This figure presents a new view of the Milky Way Galaxy obtained by the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE).  This image combines images obtained at the near-infrared wavelengths of 1.2, 2.2, and 3.4 microns, represented respectively as blue, green, and red colors.  The image is presented in galactic coordinates, with the plane of the Milky Way galaxy horizontal across the center.  The region covers galactic longitudes from 264 degrees (right) to 90 degrees (left), with the Galactic Center at the center.  The dominant source of light at these wavelengths are stars within our Galaxy.  The image strikingly shows both the thin disk and central bulge populations of stars closer to the Galactic Center than our own Sun, which lies in the disk at a distance of about 28,000 light years from the Center.  The image is redder in directions where there is more dust between the stars absorbing starlight from more distant stars.  This absorption is so strong at visible wavelengths that the central part of the Milky Way cannot be seen at such wavelengths.  The discrete points away from the central disk of the Galaxy are individual stars near the Sun.